Quark 125b thermaling

[BrianG]

Like I said, the way I currently have it reduced temps by 12 degrees after 15 minutes of bashing around the yard. I am going to remove those small PC memory heatsinks and replace them with two of these, again mounted with thermal epoxy. That should reduce temps even more. I hate using a fan because it adds wiring complexity (albeit small) and it's just one more thing to break or wear out, which is especially bad if you are counting on the fan to keep things cool. I'd rather keep it passive if at all possible and arrange the fins so airflow runs through them. Swiss-cheesing the sink should work as well too - I'd use holes no larger than 1/8" and have 1/8" spaces between them. The idea is to create as much exposed surface area as possible while keeping enough mass in between.

Originally Posted by BrianG

Like I said, the way I currently have it reduced temps by 12 degrees after 15 minutes of bashing around the yard. I am going to remove those small PC memory heatsinks and replace them with two of these, again mounted with thermal epoxy. That should reduce temps even more. I hate using a fan because it adds wiring complexity (albeit small) and it's just one more thing to break or wear out, which is especially bad if you are counting on the fan to keep things cool. I'd rather keep it passive if at all possible and arrange the fins so airflow runs through them. Swiss-cheesing the sink should work as well too - I'd use holes no larger than 1/8" and have 1/8" spaces between them. The idea is to create as much exposed surface area as possible while keeping enough mass in between.

Great site. http://www.accelthermal.com/ Is there a minimum amount of heatsink material you have to order.

[BrianG]

Originally Posted by Cartwheels

Great site. http://www.accelthermal.com/ Is there a minimum amount of heatsink material you have to order.

I'm not sure. I sent them an email yesterday asking that exact thing. It's funny; there is a link for how to order, but it doesn't tell you how to actually order the stuff. I guess either send an email or call them? If/when I get a response, I'll let you know.

As to the fan thing. I agree that sometimes they are necessary like in a PC (although I had an idea where if the CPU was mounted on the reverse side of the motherboard, you could use the whole side/bottom panel for a heatsink). However, in an RC, you have movement which creates airflow. PCs generally don't move around. :dft012: I try to remove as many mechanical parts as possible since things with moving parts are the first things to go bad. Sometimes though, a fan will be necessary and I can accept that as long as it makes sense and is not used to compensate for a bad design or use.

Personally, I think all these ESC heatsinks are too small. But if I look at it from a manufacturers standpoint, I would want to create something small and light that will fit just about everywhere and let the end user decide how to cool it. If they create something with a big enough heatsink, it might reduce their target audience since some may use it in buggies where room is more of a premium - or maybe the dimensions of the bigger unit won't physically fit where the user wants it to go.

I applaud Quark for making a unit where adding a heatsink is possible without having to seriously mod the unit. And doing this really can't go against their warranty as long as the voltage and current limits are met. Nothing was cut or changed, just added to. Thermal epoxy is considered permanent, but it can be removed if you really try.